I'm hoping my Reidi is pregnant!

[nanafish]

Well since Sunday I have noticed the pouch on my male Reidi is rounded out a little and appears to be opaquetowards the bottom. The opening of his pouch is prominent as well. He also has been buddying up a bit more with the Reidi female of late , instead of his usual gals- the tigertails. With what I had been reading up on - my male is expecting. My question / concern- should I move him to a hospital tank? I know to make it a bare bottom tank. I am hoping that many of the @home breeders can respond. Usually there are many afterthoughts that occur after the problem had resolved itself somehow. I just have concerns about keeping the happy family in the tank they are in now- Due to having an overflow and am running 2 filters. I have at times placed cylindrical shaped sponges on the intake tubes of the filters. I am wondering if I would place sponge over the toothed edge of the overflow if I keep the family together. Then of course my clean up crews.. sally lightfoots and a few emerald crabs. I am open to any suggestions.

 

[CCall]

I like to keep mine in his tank. I put a filter bag over the intake filter.
Some do take them out and put them in a nursery tank. Others just turn off their overflows.

Make sure you have rotifers for the fry.

 

[margi26]

I believe that mine is too! I thought that I had purchased 3 female Reidi a few months ago...but apparantly not the case:eek1: I am trying quickly to figure out how to get a nursery tank set up and running before the fry are here! I have read how complicated and challenging it can be to take care of them, but I am going to try my best! I know I need to be careful about the water quality, the filtration, nothing else in the tank/bowl and rotifers, copepods, and BBS for feeding...

Any advice would be great!

Best of luck to you.

 

[rayjay]

There are hobbyists doing it both ways. The fry i'm raising came from Reidi's where the male was left in the tank and filters were turned off the night before the expected happening. The owner checked just before lights came on and found the fry which he siphoned into a four litre drink bottle for me to pick up and bring home.
Others remove the male just before he gives birth and place him in a nursery or other container.
As for rearing the fry, it may take some time to get the feel for things.
I tried a lot of the different ways mentioned on seahorse.org but kept failing.
I finally went simple and have succeeded to a point now.
I have 56 fry between 5 months and 6 1/2 months of age using four litre pickle jars to start with.
If you check restaurants they may be able to give you some that they get beets/pickels in although they are now plastic instead of glass I don't see why they won't work. I intend to get more if I can find a supplier of more Reidi fry.

I use greenwater to help control ammonia produced by the fry, and it also feeds the rotifers/bbs that I put in for feeding.
I also add Cloram-X for security on the ammonia issue.
I do complete water changes every two days.
I feed rotifers only for the first two weeks, rotifers and bbs for the second two weeks, and then bbs only until I try to get them on frozen.
When trying to get them on frozen I keep feeding the live bbs and add cyclopeeze, and shaved mysis but I've not had the luck that others always have and ended up using frozen brine shrimp which they are presently eating.
I keep trying the mysis but they still won't eat it and I have to siphon it out after a couple of hours.
I transferred them to a 20 gallon cube tank at about 4 months.
I don't use greenwater or Cloram-X in the cube as it has a cycled sump.

 

[margi26]

Thank you so much for that reply! It is helpful and encouraging! I especially appreciated your pictures.

I got myself some plankton today and will get ready for rotifers to arrive next week. I have a 2 gallon tank ready, and I think I will use your "pickle jar" idea if I can get a hold of some.

How do you keep the little ponies suspended in the jars? Do you put the air tube half way down? Do you use a sponge filter? or no filtration only water changes for the first 2 weeks?

Again, thanks and congrats on what wonderful success you are having!

M

 

[TikiDan]

the one on the right is prego

 

[rayjay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15646262#post15646262 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by margi26
How do you keep the little ponies suspended in the jars? Do you put the air tube half way down? Do you use a sponge filter? or no filtration only water changes for the first 2 weeks?

The rigid air line tube (no air stone) sits in the jar, resting on the bottom of the jar. The air bubbles rise and are deflected by the rounded top portion of the jar, directing the flow across and back down the other side, making sure the fry are always in motion and not stopping at the top.
I use no sponge or filtration for the approximately four months I keep them in the jars. All ammonia is taken care of by using the greenwater and Cloram-X.
I do complete water changes every two days, usually 6 jars one day, 6 jars the next.
For the pelagic Redi fry, I start to put hitches in at the one week mark as some start to hitch at that time.
If you check seahorse.org you will find many other nursery styles to give you ideas for your own.
My way works for me but that doesn't make it the only way or the best way. Most hobbyists attempting pelagic fry keep trying until they find a way that will work for them.
I failed nine times before starting with this style and having success on the tenth trial.

 

[margi26]

Try, try again!

Try, try again!

Ok. My first brood of Reidi fry went "well" for 3 days and then they all started to die off quite rapidly. By the end of day 5 they were all gone

But, I am trying again! Calypso, my male, gave birth to his second brood early this morning.

I have made a few changes: reduced salinity, and have enough live Nanno for one green water jar. I have lots of rotifers and copepods going in my cultures and, due to missing the birth by about 30 minutes, I have only about 50 fry that weren't sucked up into the filter so maybe that will help as well--having fewer numbers to care for.

My question is about concerns of parasites. Do you do anything to treat for that? I didn't see anything attacking the fry, but there was a good deal of twitching before they died and I've read that hydroids can be a concern.

How do you rinse off your rotifers before feeding? I wonder if that is a simple factor that I am not doing correctly.

Rayjay, your setup and determination is something to be admired!

Thanks for any "words of wisdom" that you can offer...

M

 

[namxas]

the twitching can be ammonia-related, but is often related to ciliates. i think most breeders use a formalin DIP and thoroughly clean/sterilize and rinse their nurseries.

i've never bred reidi (no will i ever...too tuff), so i'll let other who do so chime in.

 

[CCall]

To rinse the rotifers: I use a rotifer sleeve drain them and then use new salt water to rinse and then tip upside down and run saltwater through to get them into the container.

Some people use formalin straight away to help with parasites and etc. I have not done that yet. Ammonia spikes can cause itching and watch your ph.

 

[rayjay]

For me, I freshwater rinse all rotifers and brine shrimp before placing them in nurseries/tanks. IMO it's much better than using salt water as the fresh can possibly wipe out something nastie.
My Reidi fry would always twitch for quite some time.
Originally I treated with formalin but starting with my first successful batch, I just let them go and eventually the problem stopped.
Now the oldest are at 8 months with no sign of itch or scratching.
For me, a lot of nanno was a big difference in my success I think.
I also add the Chloram-X.
How often are you changing the water? Partial change or full change?
How are you keeping the seahorses in circulation so they don't remain at the surface for any length of time?

 

[margi26]

Regarding the rotifers, I had been rinsing with fresh water through the sieve, but then someone suggested I might be hurting them by doing that, so I switched to rinsing with salt water. Sounds like I should return to my original plan in that regard.

Regarding water changes...about 10% daily. Try to remove the debris from the bottom with a turkey baster (I know--hi-tech). I don't have any Cloram-X so I am using Prime. My tanks aren't quite as dark green as yours...perhaps I should add more Nanno, but I have a limited supply.

I have 3 different nurseries going: 2 are fishbowls with tubing glued to the side half-way down to create the circular flow and keep the surface disrupted. The third is a pickle jar like you have, with a rigid tube to the bottom.

Thanks!

 

[rayjay]

I know there are hobbyists that do it the way you have been but I couldn't get it to work for me.
The problem is that my way uses a LOT of greenwater.
I tried doing partial water changes and that didn't work for me either.
Because I do a complete water change every two days it means I have to replace greenwater each time.
I don't remove the rotifers/BBS in between water changes so they feed on the greenwater so as to be not completely useless as a food.

 

[margi26]

Don't know if any of my changes helped, or if I am just plum lucky, but today is end of Day 5, and thus far only 3 fatalities!!

Thanks for the advice, and I'll keep you posted :rollface:

 

[margi26]

PS Just ONE DAY after delivery of this latest brood and I was home sick (with h1n1, unfortunately) and witnessed another egg transfer! He just won't take a break....sigh...

 

[margi26]

I'm on Day 12 and still have about 25 babies, most of whom seem fairly strong. I've got them all in one (fairly) green bowl. And my crazy male seems about to pop again! This is a lot of work...I don't suppose you could neuter a seahorse?!? (only joking)

I'm enjoying the challenge and taking motivation from other's successes.

Getting set to offer bb soon in addition to the copepods and rotifers. They seem ready as they clearly go for the larger copepods.

Thanks for advise I've received from here!

M

 

[rayjay]

With Reidi, it's been my experience they will repeat every 14 to 15 days.

 

[margi26]

Things continue along! I have 9 little guys that are 3 weeks old, and about 40 of the one week olds and about a week before his next brood arrives. I upgraded my main tank to a 75 gal hex. I bought an established tank with over 50 lbs of live rock and a deep sand bed. I haven't moved my adult SH into it yet. I want to make sure the parameters are good before I do so. Is a DSB ok for SH? I've read mixed opinions.

Rayjay, you keep your juveniles in the jars for 2 months before moving them up to a larger set-up? I have a ten gallon, bare bottom with a sponge filter ready for them. with hitching posts and some macro. Does that sound appropriate? (If they survive).

And, I am wondering if I should be concerned that not many of the 3 week olds are hitching yet. Just a couple are. The others seem content to float around, twirl and eat. Should I be concerned that means they aren't growing properly?

 

[rayjay]

Actually, I kept them in the jars for about 4 months as I recall.
I believe there are people keeping their fry in aquariums, but I tried Kriesils as well as tanks, and even 5g water bottles, some with sponge some with live rock, but never had any luck.
Basically I guess I'm saying I don't have enough experience to answer your question about the 10g tank, sorry.
As for hitching, I wouldn't worry as long as every thing else is ok and they are eating and growing.
Mine start at 2 weeks and usually are all hitching by 3 1/2 weeks.
Maybe they don't like your hitches.
I use "poly" cord (like plastic string) and tie it around live rock rubble, about 3 lengths to each piece giving 6 strands per piece.